April 18th, 2009 by The Grey Ghost
The man, the legend.
Daigo Umehara, the Michael Jordon of Street Fighter, was honored with a fan-run website ( BeastDaigo.jp ) as a tribute to his influential role in the fighting game community. Daigo has been a noteable Street Fighter competitor for years, but it wasn’t until this video that his name became world-famous.
Nicknamed “The Beast” because of his unstoppable skill, Daigo had previously retired from the tournament scene due to a lack of competition. Fighting games no longer held their charm for him once his mastery of the games offered him no new rivals to challenge him. It wasn’t until the recent release of Street Fighter IV, that the competitive fire within him sparked anew.
The website itself is currently in Japanese only, though you can still enjoy streaming videos captured from some of Daigo’s matches. Daigo has been an inspiration and role model to competitive fighting game players all over the world. This new site is the community’s show of appreciation for his achievements in the community.
If you’d like to learn more about Daigo, he’s mentioned heavily in David Sirlin‘s competitive gaming book, Playing to Win: Becoming the Champion, and is extensively interviewed in Brian Ashcroft’s Arcade Mania!, a book dedicated to Japanese arcade culture.
UPDATE: Daigo has just
won the
Street Fighter IV International Title!
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March 1st, 2009 by The Grey Ghost
Just a warning, this review is full of spoilers. I’ve added a cut to keep from ruining the movie for people who have not yet seen it. Though I use the term “ruin” lightly.
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February 21st, 2009 by The Grey Ghost
According to this video, you can easily get through the hardest mode of Street Fighter IV by repeatedly using Zangief’s clothsline.
Ever since SFIV came out in Japan, I’ve heard experts continuously place Zangief as the highest tier of character to use. Is this video proof?
Naaaah… Zangief is tough, but try using those cheap tactics against a real fighter. Especially a tournament-level Street Fighter player that doesn’t mess around with that scrub garbage. All this video proves is that the developers need to do a better job at programming the opponent AI in the single-player mode.
Posted in Games, Street Fighter | 2 Comments »
January 31st, 2009 by PhantomFHarlock
A History of Street Fighter II
To my buddies at the MAAN Clan, I am the resident Fighting Game Guru. In my college days, The Grey Ghost and I shared many an epic battle in one fighter or another. I cut my competitive gaming teeth on fighters like Street Fighter 2, Tekken, and Virtua Fighter. My gaming ‘hobby’ became serious ‘competition’ with Friday afternoons in my Freshman Year in High School History Class, and Street Fighter 2 when Reggie would bring his Super NES to school and the teacher let us have the second half of the period to ourselves. That was over 16 years ago. As part of the community, I have seen Street Fighter 2 go through seven evolutionary stages, from Street Fighter 2 through Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (Super Turbo) to the final Capcom release of Hyper Street Fighter 2 – Anniversary Edition (AE). Now the new Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix (Street Fighter HD or SFHD), a fan made and Capcom blessed Ultimate Edition of Super Turbo, has hit the PSN and XBL, and introduces and re-introduces players to iconic characters like Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, and M. Bison.
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January 29th, 2009 by The Grey Ghost
Don't worry... He got better.
People have been excited over the appearance of Ken and Ryu’s master, Gouken, in Street Fighter IV. Especially since he’ll be a playable character for the first time when the game comes to home consoles later this month. I think it’s cool and interesting, but as always, I’m not so quick to fall into the hype.
I do appreciate that they made him into a much different character than just another “shotoclone“. Much in the sense that Sakura’s character imitates Ryu, but has her own unique style. All that said, I can’t see him adding to the game much more than just a novelty.
Outside of the official Street Fighter canon, Gouken has always had a presence in the manga, anime, and other game-inspired media. The reason why his character generates fascination from fans is that he fills a paternal role for Ken and Ryu’s characters, even though he’s neither of their biological parent.
As Star Wars can serve no better example, the stories that seem to capture the most attention involve a parent/child element, predominantly one of a father and son. Sometimes the villain will turn out to be the hero’s father. Or in some on-going series, we’ll eventually see the hero have a child of his own that we can watch follow in his footsteps. And of course there’s always the typical plot of the hero avenging his father’s death, dealt by the villain.
I think that as a culture–or rather, a species–we’re unconsciously obsessed with genealogy. Breeding and the maintaining of bloodlines are rooted deep inside our reptilian brains. We always want to see just how far the apple falls from the tree.
I, on the other hand, prefer to look at Gouken’s presence from another point of view. Namely the rivalry that he shares with Akuma. To me, that relationship is much more intriguing because it somewhat parallels the rivalry between Ken and Ryu. While Ken and Ryu share a friendly rivalry, the bond between Gouken and Akuma is older, deeper, and much darker by comparison. It’s almost like looking at Ken and Ryu 30 years later after things between them had gone very, very wrong. Perhaps it’s something we could expect from “Street Fighter IX”?
Have no doubt that I’ll try exploring this topic deeper in the future.
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January 27th, 2009 by The Grey Ghost
Ain’t this the motherfuckin’ truth.
If you skim through any Street Fighter glossary, you’ll see common terms that describe the different types of players. There’s the ever-blocking “Turtle”. The unstoppable “Beast”. And of course the novice “Scrub”.
There’s one term that I tried to coin, but never quite made it into the guide books. It was to describe the devoted girlfriend that waits alone off to the side of the arcade cabinet while her champion plows through the competition. This girl, I refer to as the “Cup Holder”.
As Street Fighter IV revives the fighting game phenomenon, fresh legions of players emerge with their sweethearts in tow. Luckily for these gals, this new generation offers them better distractions to occupy them in the form of multi-featured cell phones.
I do whole-heartedly sympathize with Gabe’s post above. Oh, to be that young again in this new era of arcade gaming.
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January 26th, 2009 by The Grey Ghost
I’m pretty sure this is actually a photoshop, cuz that looks like it would take a long time to finish and hurt like hell! Plus the bottom “Gonna Take You For A Ride” looks fake.
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January 25th, 2009 by The Grey Ghost
I don’t know why I didn’t notice this before. The wookie-esque height. The missing right eye. The love of gripping opponents by the skull. See for yourself:
He wasn’t saying “STARS”. He was saying “SCARS”!
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December 24th, 2008 by The Grey Ghost
Remember that post I made about how fickle gamers are and how they ask for sequels filled with dumb shit? Well, here’s some proof for my pudding:
Street Fighter IV just came out and fans are already pining over Street Fighter V. Can’t we just be happy that we ever got a SF4??
If your bounty of shitty ideas didn’t make it into SF4, don’t expect them to make it into SF5. Here’s a clue: Why didn’t any of those ideas make it into SF4? Because they’re shitty. I’m so happy that Capcom only listens to its smart fans.
Posted in Games, Rants, Street Fighter | No Comments »
November 20th, 2008 by The Grey Ghost
People are often surprised that I appear to have such a hate-on for Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. I guess the biggest reason is that I just don’t get the demand. I loved MvsC2, but it walked that very fine line of being devastatingly broken and retarded. With the trends originally set by Capcom’s “Versus” series, MvsC2 was pretty much as far as they could (and I feel should) have gone. And as much as I enjoyed the game, I think that it’s since grown to be extremely overrated.
Truth be told, I wouldn’t mind a MvsC3. After giving it some thought, I would actually love to see them follow someone’s suggestion that they take the look and gameplay of the licensing nightmare, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, and replace the Tatsunoko characters with those from Marvel. The cast may be a fraction of that found in MvsC2, but I would deem that to be a worthy current-generation installement of the series. But because I felt so satisfied with MvsC2, I’m also not as excited about another sequel.
I’ve asked people to help me understand, and I’ve never gotten an explanation that wasn’t based on the sheer novelty of the title. So I guess what my true position on the matter is not so much my resistance toward the game itself, but what the fanbase is demanding of it. The MvsC3 that I describe above is not what most fans are asking for, and since they are the consuming majority, Capcom would most likely listen to them.
So here’s the dilemma I face with MvsC3: The game I feel it should be to be god would be unappreciated and not sell. Yet the game that everyone wants would be utter shit. It’s a no win-situation for me. In the meantime, I continue to bitch, remind dorks to be careful what they wish for, and preach that we should focus on continuing our support of MvsC2 and the other “Versus” games that we fell in love with in the first place.
Posted in Games, Rants, Street Fighter | 2 Comments »
